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When there was no source to be found, everyone looked off into the distance. If they listened closely, they could make out the sound of dozens of heavy footsteps getting closer and closer.

“Klor, round up the kids!” Ania jumped into action, forgetting the food she had over the fire. She dashed to the east and soon disappeared into the jungle.

Just when everyone wondered what was going on, the earth rumbled and shook violently. It lasted only a moment and was the result of a booming collision, coming from the same direction that Ania had headed.

The footprints were no more, but more echoes of collision sounded out. Everyone understood that Ania was now in combat with whatever stampede was attempting to charge toward the camp.

“Everyone, gather around me!” Klor scanned the crowd, eager to keep an eye on everyone. He hesitated for a moment when Oli and Netra were nowhere to be found, but they soon reentered camp and joined the others. “Now, everyone, stay together and wait for Ania’s return. It seems that something has happened and she’s handling it now.”

Suddenly, more rumbling and rustling sounds could be heard from the south. Though the footsteps weren’t as powerful as those that Ania halted to the east, they sounded plenty powerful in comparison to a class of novice cultivators.

.....

“Stay behind me!”

Klor stepped forward, creating some distance between himself and the class, but still staying at the edge of the camp.

As the intruders came into view, the students trembled at the sight.

Half a dozen gigantic rhinos were stomping through the jungle, red-eyed and furious. They were ferocious, yet their eyes showed a hint of sadness within their anger.

Klor stood before them all. “What do you want! We’ve never offended the Wild Rhinocerous tribe.”

“We’re only following orders,” shouted the rhino in the lead, a peak elder like Klor. “I know this won’t make sense, but forgive us for this offense.”

“What do you mean? You’re going to charge and stampeded your way through our camp, just because of your orders? Why would you have such orders?”

“We can’t say, otherwise, it’s pointless.” That old rhino shook his head. “Please, just scatter and avoid our rampage.”

“We can talk this–”

“GO!”

Following the command, the six rhinos barreled through the undergrowth of the jungle, leaving nothing behind wherever they stepped.

Klor groaned, knowing it was impossible to stop all six of the elder plane rhinos, which were even bigger than his massive gorilla frame. Only able to trust that the rhino’s meant no harm to the students from the elder rhino’s words, “Everyone, follow me! Don’t get in the rhino’s way, just stay together!”

“I’m sorry, but the order was to scatter them. We mean no harm, but we must scatter you all!” objected the old rhino as he charged toward Klor.

Unable to avoid the charge, Klor activated his essence and grabbed the charging rhino’s horn. He was still pushed back, but the charge was greatly weakened.

“Stay together! Wait outside of the camp for me and Ania!”

“They must scatter!” shouted another elder rhino. That rhino, along with one other, targeted the group of students. “Flee! And avoid us at all costs, or you’ll perish under our feet! So long as you scatter into the jungle, then we won’t hurt any of you!”

Left with no other choice, the group of students broke apart and let both rhinos divide them.

“No! Don’t–”

“It must be done! I’m sorry, but we have no other choice!” The old rhino knocked the distracted Klor further to the side, keeping his away from the students.

“Why are you doing this?!”

“All will be revealed soon. But till then, we can say nothing,” groaned the old rhino, struggling to admit the truth. “Please, just scatter so we don’t have to act against you.”

“I refuse! Those are my students, and they’ll be left vulnerable!”

“I know, so please take out your anger on me, an old rhino with nothing left to live for!”

The two charged at each other, each wielding earth essence to maximize their strength. Each collision was explosive and shook the ground beneath them. They were equals in strength, but Klor’s fury was driving him wild and giving him a slight edge. But it wasn’t enough to escape the fight and save his students.

While they were fighting, the remaining five rhinos were driving the students apart and scattering them into the surrounding jungle.

Oli, Netra, Yeter, and Karos stayed together. The group of four was the most calm and was also the first to dash into the jungle. They understood that they were helpless and could do nothing against the elder rhinos.

*****

Panting heavily, a rhino looked up toward the opponent who had forced it back, along with three others.

Across from that rhino wielding a war hammer, Ania was forcing back the charge of the three other rhinos.

More rhinos waited in the distance, but none of them attacked or planned to attack.

“Why is the entire Wild Rhinocerous tribe acting against us? We’ve done nothing to wrong you,” asked Ania.

“It’s not that you’ve wronged us, it’s that others have wronged us but we have no choice but to do this,” replied that downtrodden rhino.

Ania squinted and reexamined the rhinos. “But what was bad enough to force four peak elders into forcing a breakthrough to the perennial class? Do you understand the consequences of forcing a breakthrough that your body isn’t ready to handle?”

“Within the week, us four will be dead, but that’s just part of the price we must pay.”

“But why?”

“We can’t say, not till the other elders finish scattering the camp,” replied that rhino. “Till then, even if the four of us aren’t strong enough to defeat you, we’ll keep you busy till we’ve accomplished our task.”

“Are you mad? We can help you, just explain the situation,” reasoned Ania. “As the clan ruling this territory, we’re more than willing to help those under us.

“There’s no time for that. If there was, we wouldn’t have forced our breakthroughs. So, please forgive the rest of our tribe and care for them after we pass.”

No longer saying a word, that rhino and the three others surrounding Ania all released the essence to an insane degree. They charged her all at once, forcing her to also use her essence and tire her out.

“You know that we’re in charge of this region, yet you still decide to act against us in place of asking for help.”

“Sadly... This is our plea for help,” stated the rhino with watery eyes as he was swatted away by Ania’s hammer. “Please... don’t blame the rest of the tribe for our deeds.”

*****

“It seems like the rhinos are following our instructions to a tee,” chuckled a cloaked man, far away from the school campsite yet still in the jungle.

“Calm down, our part will be coming up soon,” stated a second cloaked man. “Remember, we won’t have the privilege of chasing down the young gorilla personally. We’ve got a bigger target that we’ll have to neutralize. Leave the gorilla to the men.”

“Yeah, yeah, just stop my fun before I can enjoy myself, why don’t you,” mumbled the first man. “Brak said that the young gorilla needs to be brought to him alive, but Brak never said that the gorilla needed his limbs... or his tongue.”

“You and your twisted sense of humor... Just remember not to take it easy on that leopard. He’s a killer and much more calculated than those gorillas,” reasoned the second man. “He should be here sometime–”

“BOSS! HELP!”

Some shouts sounded out from the distance, putting a frown on the second man’s face and a smile on the first man’s face.

“He’s early! I guess we underestimated his speed. Let’s go say hello before I kill him!” cackled the first man, dashing toward the cries for help.

“You and your temper,” mumbled the second man, following behind.

Soon, the two men arrived at a small clearing with bloodied corpses everywhere.

“Are you two the ones responsible?” asked Vloz, keeping his cold, bone-chilling gaze on the two new arrivals. “I’m sure you know who I am if you’ve planned this whole thing out, so you understand that you’ll soon have no blood to warm your cold corpse.”

“Oh, I like you!” shouted the first man. “You’re as cold as the scouts mentioned. I can’t wait to see that confident demeanor break under my blade.”

The second man sighed, “Both of us will be your opponent, so you have no hope against us. It would be best if you just turned around and left. We’ll forget about all the men you’ve killed.”

“Once I choose a target, their blood gets spilled. And you threaten my clan and territory, therefore you deserve nothing less than death. So, prepare your final breaths.”